RAFAir MISSION TUE 13th JUL 21

[Flyco]

It would be good to see a 'Planned time-line' and an 'Actual time-line'. I really don't know what happened outside the A-10C bubble. However, there do seem to be a fair few unhappy chappies, and it is not the first time.

I am sure that I have mentioned it before but unless a clear over-all brief, with timings, is available to all sqns at least 24 hrs in advance, this sort of hoo-haa is going to recur. All I knew was what time we were due to roll and what we were required to do - unfortunately, the start time was never specified other than as Real UK time, which is useless once in mission.

PPPPPPP (In case I have not mentioned it before it stands for "Piss-poor planning produces piss-poor performance"

[Roon]

We were not unhappy with anything, this was just a first try at a new system as far as we're concerned.

We did hear the "Action Time" call and stuck to our timings pretty well. So it didn't all go exactly to plan, but it was close enough to warrant another go in my opinion.

To be honest I don't think we need "Action Time" calls, we just need to have a paused server and to know exactly the scenario start time in Zulu. Unpause once everyone is in pit and there's enough slack in the TOT scheme for everyone to get started and T/O at their alloted time.

If there's a delay for any reason we could use the standard ROLEX call "All units, ROLEX is +5" for example, everyone adds 5 mins to their T/O and TOT times.

A spot of refinement to the current system should sort it...thanks to both Andrew and Chris.

[Chris]

The 'ACTION TIME' was an attempt to negate past Super Carrier ai & launch issues and that can delay F14b's getting airborne for CAP - the essential first part of the jigsaw. Once in flight ACTION TIME becomes the coordinator... at least that was the intention and of course can be substituted or removed.

[Chris]

It would be good to see a 'Planned time-line' and an 'Actual time-line'. I really don't know what happened outside the A-10C bubble. However, there do seem to be a fair few unhappy chappies, and it is not the first time.
I am sure that I have mentioned it before but unless a clear over-all brief, with timings, is available to all sqns at least 24 hrs in advance, this sort of hoo-haa is going to recur. All I knew was what time we were due to roll and what we were required to do - unfortunately, the start time was never specified other than as Real UK time, which is useless once in mission.
PPPPPPP (In case I have not mentioned it before it stands for "Piss-poor planning produces piss-poor performance"

Alan, I do not find your pppp comments particularly useful or relevant. The planned time lines were published here viewtopic.php?p=36775#p36775 and later the actual times here viewtopic.php?p=36840#p36840 You only have to look. All times were stated as ZULU - that is, as known, ZULU TIME IN MISSION. ACTUAL times given in my de-brief post are MISSION ZULU time too as reported by Teamviewer.

[Flyco]

I'm sorry Chris, but I do believe that the planning for last night was poor - by almost everyone involved. The main reason it was poor was because it was 'last minute'. Why can we not stop planning and changing things by at least 24 hrs before the planned mission start? Certainly there will be last minute changes due to Server problems, people being late or changed at the last minute due to real life etc, but these will be inevitable and unavoidable. Fiddling with the mission itself right up until the Server start are not. It harks back to one of my other perennial gripes - discipline.

I know that I am an old woman in some respects, and becoming less flexible by the day, but I do have some ingrained habits that I cannot rid myself of. Before I fly I like to give, and receive a full brief - or, more accurately, briefs. The first brief is the one that should be given at least 24 hrs in advance. In real life this period must often be shortened but only in critical situations, which will never apply to DCS flying! With this briefing given, every Sqn, Flt, and Sn Cdr will know what his group has to do, and when and where it fits in with others. Then each Unit Cdr prepares his brief. I did this about 30 hrs before the mission and pushed it out on our Sqn briefing page. Being used to late DCS briefs, I also prepared an outline for my immediate pre-flt brief - this I would normally cover in a 10 min verbal brief. In the old days (ah! those wonderful days of yore) I also included a copy within the Mission, so that it could be available on the Kneeboard. I attach a copy of my last night's brief (in note form) to outline what I believe should be covered. It was a as well that I did, because there was no time before the mission itself. Incidentally, I found your exhortation for Sqn Cdrs to brief their members in advance questionable in view of the final brief from you being less than 10 minutes before we entered the Server.

I also had problems with reconciling the times in the various exchanges. I had worked out that the times you were talking about were local UK BST - but all sortie planned times were Simulator time. With the Mission timed to start at 0300, I had set a provisional taxi time of 03:15, with a T/O of 03:25. Since it was well after 0300 when I finally got into the Server, and I had some self-inflicted screw-ups to deal with, I was late taxying, but my gallant men waited for me! When, on the following day I checked my TacView I found that that record started at 03:40, with the first F-14 launching at 03:42; my Flt eventually took off at 04:15. Confused? Yes, but then I frequently am.

I do not want, nor see the point, in coming to blows over this. I come from a place where free and frank discussions were commonplace, and I am genuinely seeking to make things better within DCS. So I will conclude by quoting another similar saying "Good performance comes from good planning". At present that planning within DCS is far from good, I would put it at less than adequate - we really do need to get more discipline, and that starts with self-discipline!

[Chris]

For folk who are lost Mission time commenced at 0300zulu which is 0700 local time in the Persian Gulf.
Any times given other that obvious UK BST meeting times were in Zulu
Zulu was used because in the F16 it is shown by default and local is "feature incomplete".
The CO's 5 minute brief at 7.35pm last night was in case of mission exigencies such as 'no shows'.

Sometimes I feel as if the dementors have escaped from Azkaban and the power of my patronus is waning! Damn cheap alkaline batteries, should never have bought them but the twisted bunny had cornered the market!
Keyboard 'ziplipped' everyone will be glad to know.

[Flyco]

I think I must have nodded off for a few minutes at some stage. I still can’t work out what happened between about 0315 and 0330 (mission time). I would be interested to know what time other members’ Trackviews started.

As I say all I am seeking is:

a. That there be a period of a few hours (preferably 24 hrs) between the Mission being finalised and sealed with a basic overall outline and critical times set in stone, and that mission being flown. This being to allow every Sqn or Flt Cdr to draw up a brief for his unit.

b. A period of at least 10-15 minutes between a published gather time (usually 0730), and the Server start time. This to allow ordinary members who have not been involved in the construction of the Mission, to be briefed on the nitty, gritty of the mission i.e. Flt composition, weapons, start times, deputy leadership etc, etc.

As I say it is about discipline. Set the rules and then stick to them. Certainly there will be problems such as someone not turning up; but that is no different to real life, and will be up to the Formation leader (or his deputy) to sort out - just as in real life.

I also have no problem with a Force Commander who ‘flies’ in the AWCS and controls the overall force. However, I would suggest that is a full time job, and not something that can be done from an aircraft flying in the mission.

[Neil Willis]

Flyco, you did attend realise this mission was planned over a whole week don't you?

You have been given a whole 7 days to plan and brief under the new system.

We however, have a spanner in the works when the planning goes out of the window when the scheduled timings for take off go out of the window, and we lose our main planner from the team as a result.

[309 Geoff]

Neil,
I was aware of the squadron take off order.
However, whilst we were on TS, Flyco asked a question "what is the order of take off".
The answer was "there is no particular order".
I thought timings had changed, so I kept quiet.

[Neil Willis]

It was a mission prepared well in advance, and not "lacking a briefing" as stated elsewhere. The start was indeed chaotic, but again, that isn't down to the mission commander's error, but would appear to be the failure of the Squadron to brief adequately or more importantly, the individual pilot to know his role and the details of the mission prior to walking to his jet. Can you discuss it in your Squadron forum, and establish what went wrong please? This was the first of the 7 day cycle missions, and as far as I am aware, all Squadrons had plenty of time to plan and brief. If there were any doubts about when to take off, then the mission commander could have been asked the question long before Tuesday evening.

We all have to do more work to get things running smoothly, and lessons from Tuesday should be applied to future sorties.

As Ade said elsewhere - you had TOT information, and regardless of the frag, you could not fail in your roles if you got airborne in a timely manner to achieve those objectives in the absence of good comms etc.

This criticism isn't aimed at any individual, but should be taken generally.

Above all though, we need to remember that all of us are humans, and as such need to be a little more circumspect when it comes to unwarranted criticism. It is not good that we lose key personnel due to a lack of communication given the time taken to prepare for Tuesday.